Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter; JK Rowling does.

--

Hardcore Days & Softcore Nights
By Siriusly Amused

--

Prologue
Stare

The Great Hall looked almost exactly how his father had described it: four long house tables with one long head table at the front, a ceiling reflecting the night sky, floating candles and a plethora of ghosts drifting around as though they owned the place. One ghost in particular, the Creevey ghost by the looks of the transparent camera around his neck, floated very close to the gathered first years.

"There you are, Al!" the ghost said brightly. He raised his camera and took a picture, blinding those in the near vicinity with the flash.

Scorpius blinked as spots blurred his vision. He frowned moodily. 'Should have gone to Durmstrang.'

"Er…thanks…um…Colin," the boy next to Scorpius said uncertainly. Scorpius turned his head and was startled slightly to find himself standing next to Albus Potter, the boy who lived with the rest of his family on the front page of nearly every Daily Prophet.

"You're welcome, Al," the Creevey ghost said, lowering his camera. "I'll be over by Gryffindor table with your brother and cousins to capture your big moment!" He raised his camera and shook it slightly for emphasis.

"Erm…yeah…right…my big moment…yeah."

Scorpius vaguely wondered if the Potter boy had a speech impediment. He debated this as he continued to stare at Al, unaware that a pair of brown eyes were locked upon him as well until he felt the burn of the gaze upon his face. He tore his eyes away from a blushing Al to look at the red-headed girl he had seen earlier at the train station. Rose Weasley, his father had said, not bothering to say more, trusting her name to be enough information.

"What's your problem, Malfoy?" the Weasley girl spat, tugging her cousin closer to her protectively.

His name preceeded him. He was afraid of that.

"Nothing," he said quickly.

In front of them, the Sorting Hat burst into a song about how disappointed it was that they were still sorting nineteen years after the Blood Wars and why couldn't they just throw it into the fire and let it die already. A snicker sounded on Scorpius' left; he sent a cautious glance over his shoulder to see Al Potter stifling his laughter with a hand. Rose Weasley nudged her cousin in his side to get him to shut up, and Al bit his lip obligingly, though he turned to Scorpius, his eyes filled with laughter and his smile amicable, as though he was trying to share his mirth. Unsure of what to do with this unexpected display of amicability, Scorpius offered a slight smile before returning his gaze to the front of the hall.

The Sorting was excruciating; everyone was being sorted into Ravenclaw, Gryffindor or Hufflepuff; the Slytherin table was barely half full and all the students sitting at it looked as though they weren't expecting many first years to join them. Seeing as Greg, Pansy, Blaise and Aunt Daphne had all sent their children to Durmstrang, Scorpius feared he'd be the only Slytherin in his year.

"Malfoy, Scorpius!" the head of Gryffindor, Neville Longbottom, called out.

A quiet murmur rippled through the Great Hall and all eyes suddenly turned on him as he approached the stool. He felt dizzy as he hoisted himself up onto the wooden seat. A corner of Neville's mouth pulled into a sly grin as he lowered the cap onto Scorpius' head. Blackness covered his eyes.

'Not Slytherin,' he thought fervently. 'Not Slytherin. Not Slytherin.'

'You know, I grow very tired of hearing that,' the Sorting Hat droned in his ears. 'No one wants to be in Slytherin anymore; therefore, asking not to be placed there has no impact on my decision these days.'

'Ravenclaw! Ravenclaw! Put me in Ravenclaw!'

'Changing tactics, I see. How very cunning of you, Mr. Malfoy!'

'Damnit, you tatty piece of cloth! I have half a mind to jump off this stool and throw you into the fire!'

'Please do.'

Silence prevailed for a few agonizing moments.

'Well you're obviously not a Gryffindor,' the Sorting Hat commented dryly once it became obvious that Scorpius was not going to throw it into the fire. 'Although…you are braver than any other Malfoy I've seen, I'll give you that. And you do have traits from all the houses. You would do well in Ravenclaw.' The Hat paused, causing hope to swell in Scorpius' chest. 'But I'm sorry, Mr. Malfoy; you are most definitely a…'

"SLYTHERIN!"

There was a muted applause from the Slytherin table as Scorpius angrily shoved the hat into Neville's hands and stalked to join his housemates, accepting his fate and yet cursing the hat under his breath. He continued to sulk, throwing particularly jealous glances at anyone who was sorted into Ravenclaw, as the sorting went on. And then…

"Potter, Albus!"

A hush quickly fell over the Great Hall, then was followed by the same murmur of whispers that had accompanied Scorpius on his ascent to the greatly disappointing hat. Scorpius tuned them all out, feeling quite certain that Albus Severus Potter would soon join his family members at the Gryffindor table.

But the seconds ticked on and Albus remained on the stool, his mouth forming a grimace as though he were arguing with the voice in his head. The room grew more and more quiet until…

"SLYTHERIN!"

Shock filled the room so thickly that even the ghosts couldn't move through it. No one applauded—no one even breathed—as Al Potter slowly walked over to the Slytherin table and sat down across from Scorpius.

"Did you try the 'Not Slytherin' thing too?" Scorpius asked casually, propping his head on his hand and glancing curiously at Albus, well aware that the entire hall was listening.

Albus slowly nodded his head.

"Yeah," Scorpius snorted derisively. "It doesn't work."

Al closed his mouth, looking pale and sickly. "My dad's going to kill me," he breathed.

"I highly doubt that," Scorpius assured him.

The sorting continued around them, though many of the older students were still talking in loud voices about Al's surprise sorting.

Al's large, green eyes rounded on Scorpius pleadingly. "If my dad disowns me, can I come live with you?"

Scorpius was taken aback by the question. Surely Al knew who he was and the relationship their fathers had back when they were in school? And what about his cousins? If Harry Potter actually kicked his son out of the family, wouldn't the Weasleys or someone take him in? Or did they all act together like some brainwashed pack? Scorpius was about to tell the Potter boy that he doubted their families would approve of them being friends, but then he thought of the very reason why his father was sending him to Hogwarts instead of Durmstrang with the other Slytherin progenies: It was time for the Malfoys to make a new name for themselves.

He looked at Al's wide, hopeful eyes and smiled.

"Of course you can," he said. "I'm Scorpius by the way." He held out his hand. "Scorpius Malfoy."

A grin surfaced on the Potter boy's face as he reached out and shook Scorpius' hand. "Al Potter."

It was at that moment that Scorpius felt the burn of someone's gaze upon him again. His eyes shot over to the group of first years who had yet to be sorted, and he met Rose Weasley's stare, taking it in like a punch to the gut. He hitched in his breath and felt beads of sweat form on his palms. Noticing his predicament, Al turned to glance over his shoulder at the remaining first years.

"Oh, that's my cousin, Rose," he explained, though Scorpius didn't need the explanation. "Bloody hell she looks pissed off." Al turned back to grace Scorpius with a smirk. "I think she hates you."

Scorpius was taken aback. "She doesn't even know me," he reasoned.

Al shrugged.

Scorpius continued to stare at Rose; her face had softened somewhat as her eyes roved over Scorpius' features, and Scorpius suddenly felt the adrenaline of a challenge rush through his veins.

"She'll change her mind about me," Scorpius announced confidently, propping his head up on his hand once more.

Al cocked a skeptical eyebrow. "You think so?"

Scorpius nodded. "Yeah. She'll learn to love me."

And with that he sent a smile and a wink at Rose. Her face immediately hardened, a blush forming across her visage as she turned away to face the front of the hall. Scorpius, however, kept his eyes on her as she waited for her name to be called, as she sat on the stool with the Sorting Hat on her head, and as she walked over to the Gryffindor table. When she sat down, her brown eyes sought out Scorpius once more and her gaze locked with his, sending another jolt to Scorpius' stomach.

He smiled. Maybe going to school at Hogwarts wouldn't be so bad after all.

--

End Author's Note: I wanted to write a Rose/Scorpius/Albus fic ever since I finished Deathly Hallows last summer. This fic is therefore nearly a year in the making. The plot and characterizations have changed repeatedly as I tried to write this and finally...FINALLY...I think I have it down. At the moment, this is my favorite fic, but it's also the hardest for me to write. Chapter One has been written no less than four times, and the final outcome is ten thousand words long. I think you guys will really like it though: it has humor; it has romance; it has action...it has Albus Severus Potter. C'mon. You know you want to read it.